Its surface is divided by nine different islands, each one of which has very distinct natural characteristics that distinguish it from the others, but which together complement and contribute to placing the archipelago at the top of the national and even international tourist scale.
From the highest elevation of Portugal, the Pico Mountain, with an altitude of 2,351m, located on the island of the same name, with its varied coastline, constantly kissed by the blue waters of the ocean that bathe them, the islands contain within them a whole set of beauty and mystery that attracts and captivates those who pass through them, even the least attentive observer.
The Azorean landscape is made up of contrasts, where the harmony of the “bread lands” and the aggressiveness of the haughty mountains crossed by deep valleys and ravines that sometimes combine to give way to scenes of rare and unforgettable beauty, where the phenomena of volcanism still active in transport to the remote epochs of the great eruptions that gave rise to the formation of the primitive islands and where the polychromy of the landscape inbria us and frees of the tension of the day to day.
Of volcanic nature, except Santa Maria, on the islands is evident the action of the great eruptions that gave them origin, where the old volcanic apparatuses often have in their central part abatement boilers of considerable diameter and depth, generally occupied by lagoons, thus constituting formations of relief of extraordinary beauty and grandeur, reflected in its waters.
The varied cliffs of the coastline are in extensive bays and coves which serve not only as a shelter for maritime navigation but also for inviting bathing areas, sometimes falling abruptly on the sea in authentic abysses, or they are still decorated by imposing promontories, which guardians of the Azorean islands.
Integrating the whole island group of the archipelago, numerous small islets of various shapes and sizes, cherished by the islands that welcome them, complement the landscape and constitute, for the most part, authentic refuges of migratory but also local bird colonies that take advantage of the quiet and seclusion to nest there.